The Prodigies War

Chapter 1880: Puppet Imaginarium

Everyone in the huge Fierce Wind Show Arena stopped what they were doing, sat upright, and directed their gaze at the center of the stadium.

There, a white-haired old man who was clad in red stood in the air.

Tao Songting!

He was a quasi-Emperor elder of Great Void Sect, the number one lineage in Cloud State. Today, he was also the main coordinator of the first selection round in this city.

After the bell sounded, Tao Songting began his speech, “Today, we will carry out the first round of selections for the Cloud State’s Dao Debate Contest.

“The rules are simple. There are eighteen rings in the stadium, and they can concurrently host a one-on-one duel. Anyone can compete to be a ringmaster.”

“Make a go of it and last ten matches in the ring without being defeated, and you will qualify for the second round of selections.

“Remember that in the rings, we only need to decide who wins and who loses. This is not a fight to the death. Those who break the rules will not only be disqualified but also severely punished!”

The old man’s voice thundered through the whole venue.

Such a harsh requirement drew gasps from many people.

These were fights between cultivators of the same stage. How could those who had dared to register themselves not fight tooth and nail in order to win?

While it was true that an ordinary Saint-King was nothing near a problem in the eyes of a supreme Saint-King, fighting ten matches in a row and winning them under this circumstance was still bound to be extremely difficult!

Not to mention that there were top experts who didn’t see eye to eye, and therefore would challenge each other. Winning ten consecutive matches would even be harder in this case.

This was no exaggerated theory. Everyone had seen how hostile Heavenly Tip’s Chu Qiu and Dark World Clan’s Young Master Gu Jianxing had been toward each other when they had first arrived at Fierce Wind City.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how likely it would be for these two to have a confrontation in the following selections!

Upon hearing the rules, the participants in the waiting area revealed different expressions.

Some were unimpressed, some looked grave, some sank into thought, while some seemed worried…

Meanwhile, Lin Xun didn’t have much of a reaction.

From start to end, his attitude was that everyone else belonged to the hustle and bustle while he stayed out of it with a clear and calm mind.

After all, if it wasn’t for the sake of hiding his identity, he could have chosen the course that would send him straight to the second round.

Also, this was not him underestimating others, but that he had long since cultivated the belief that he could conquer anything!

This is actually not bad at all. I should strive to see as many Great Dao Fields as possible to hone myself and complete my own field…

At this moment, Lin Xun’s mindset had shifted as he began to treat this Dao Debate as another way of cultivating.

The goal was to improve his own Great Dao Field as much as possible!

“The selections commence now!” declared Tao Songting.

These words still echoed through the arena when suddenly, there was a whoosh.

A brilliant figure then flashed and swept up into a ring before speaking leisurely. “I, Chu Qiu, am standing right here. Does any fellow daoist want to be the first to challenge me?”

His loosely hung, silvery hair danced and his silver-colored robe fluttered. He stood straight like a spear with a domineering air, causing a stir the moment he appeared on stage.

Heavenly Tip’s Chu Qiu was a peak supreme Saint-King who had long since made a name for himself.

Many directed their gazes at Dark World Clan’s Gu Jianxing instead as it was still fresh in everyone’s mind how he had provoked Chu Qiu on the first day of registration!

To their surprise, however, the green-clad Gu Jianxing who emanated a peerlessly sharp aura did not start a challenge. Instead, he teleported to another ring.

“How about you challenge me after you’ve won ten consecutive matches, Chu Qiu? I will wait,” said Gu Jianxing.

“Oh, okay. Then you’d better not get knocked out before that.” Chu Qiu went tit-for-tat.

Upon this, many lamented how clever Gu Jianxing was. Since the first round of selections was very crucial, it wasn’t wise for the participants to be hot-headed.

The eighteen rings were occupied in just a few blinks.

Among the defenders, there were young supreme talents like Chu Qiu and Gu Jianxing, as well as ambitious and battle-hardened fighters of the older generations.

“Qian Kong’er, I shall be your first match!”

“Heh, interesting to see some meager characters jump out so bravely thinking they can steal the ring. Get lost!”

“My friend, being the first to occupy a ring doesn’t necessarily mean you have the power to hold it.”

……

For a while, many experts swept into a ring to challenge the defenders of their choice, each of them burning with fighting spirit.

The atmosphere in the stadium was ignited. The audience’s mood started boiling with shouts, cheers, and excited discussions echoing.

Even Chu Qiu and Gu Jianxing had met their opponents.

There were over a thousand Saint-King participants while there were only eighteen rings. Even if one lost, they could just start again and challenge a different defender.

This also made the competition extremely intense as this selection round would only last three days!

With over a thousand Saint-Kings competing in eighteen rings, one might not even have the chance to enter one at all if they couldn’t seize the right time.

Lin Xun watched for a while before also launching into action, decisively choosing a ring that was occupied by a supreme Saint-King.

It was a youth who wore a golden robe and held a bronze spear in his hand. He looked valiant, and his eyes glowed with an ethereally blue luster.

“Jin Duyi, intermediate supreme Saint-King, unaffiliated,” said the golden-robed youth after glancing at Lin Xun, his lips curling up into a cold arc. “Lil’ brother, I advise you to forfeit. You’re no match for me.”

Obviously, this gold-robed youth had studied the list of the strongest participants to be able to recognize Lin Xun with a single glance.

“This guy named Jin Duyi is indeed too brash. I’m afraid he’s going to lose.”

Some of the spectators looked over and recognized the gold-robed youth as the top disciple of Golden Armor Battle Sect, Dong Liushi. Not only was he an intermediate supreme Saint-King with superb battle prowess, but he was also a grandmaster mechanic who was proficient in the dao of puppetry.

Mechanism was also one of the grand daos, and it used puppets as a medium to seek the heavenly path.

Some mechanics were even powerful enough to create battle puppets that had the same cultivation level as theirs, giving them incredible combat strength.

Dong Liushi was such a mechanic. Once, he had used eighteen battle puppets to kill an opponent whose cultivation was one level higher than his!

“Hahaha, I heard a lot of people have bet on Dong Liushi because they are confident that he will win ten consecutive matches. Jin Duyi must be blind to challenge him, he’s definitely done for.”

In the midst of all the discussion, Lin Xun also identified Dong Liushi. He said indifferently, “Time is precious, let’s get to it.”

Dong Liushi sighed, “I knew you wouldn’t be willing to forfeit. It’s fine, I’ll fulfill your request this one time and let you be convinced of your own defeat.”

His voice was drifting around the air when something rumbled.

Above the ring, eight battle puppets had appeared in the shapes of ferocious birds and divine beasts. They were life-like and emanated monstrous might.

The scene gave many spectators a jolt.

“This is the ability of a mechanic? Such skills are on par with mighty creation!”

“Eight battle puppets, and all of them have the cultivation of a supreme Saint-King. Isn’t he a little too strong?”

A series of astonished voices resounded in the arena.

At the judging area, Tao Songting commented, “Golden Armored Battle Sect is really playing big here with all the resources they’ve spent. From what I know, it’s extremely difficult to craft one of these battle puppets. The value of the divine materials consumed certainly exceeds ten million dao crystals.

“These eight battle puppets amount to at least eighty million dao crystals pouring into this contest. It’s hard to even think about losing.”

Xuanji Dao Sect’s Hong Yu smiled and didn’t say anything to this.

Trying to use money to smack Jin Duyi into a loss? Do they really think it’s possible?

“Go!” uttered Dong Liushi.

The eight battle puppets stormed out, surging with brilliant dao light like true savage beasts.

Boom!

Between the flaps of its wings, a fiery-red bird puppet poured out a fiery flaming light ray that engulfed the area. It had the might to burn the sky and boil the sea.

On another side, the brilliant ferocious beast that looked like it was made of pure gold roared ferociously. The air around shattered as the sonic waves spread.

Apart from them, there was a silvery Greedy Wolf, a blue Cloud Swallower Beast… Together, they charged forth with amazing momentum as they deployed their own unique battle skills.

This kind of formation made many hearts tremble from just its sight.

It was a rare spectacle that the dao of puppetry could be utilized to such an exceptional degree.

What would Jin Duyi do?

The answer was quickly revealed as an unruffled Lin Xun expressionlessly stepped forward and drew strokes in the void with his finger.

Every stroke was drawn casually and without an aura, making them look extremely inconspicuous.

Many people even revealed a look of disappointment.

The next second, however, something shocking played out.

Bang!

The flaming bird at the front of the pack suddenly trembled before it could reach Lin Xun. On its head was a hole pierced by the finger force.

The fire shrouding the huge bird started dispersing.

Dong Liushi’s sneer froze on his face as his pupils constricted. It caught him off guard that a single finger was all it took to heavily injure one of his battle puppets.

Immediately after was a heartache. The puppet was as difficult to make as it was powerful. It would cost him at least a million dao crystals to repair this kind of damage.

Before Dong Liushi could recover, he heard a series of bangs.

Whether it was the golden beast, the silvery wolf, or the blue Cloud Swallower Beast, as if struck by lightning, they suddenly fell from the air like dumplings falling into a pot.

On their skulls, without exception, was a hole pierced by a finger force!

“How…”

“Don’t tell me those battle puppets aren’t actually as strong as they look?”

Spectators who noticed this scene all gawked.

Dong Liushi’s heart ached so badly that he felt like it was bleeding. His face was as dark as the blackest pot as each damaged puppet suddenly looked like a mountain of dao crystals collapsing and flowing away…

Never in his wildest dreams could he ever have expected this to happen.

Normally, his eight battle puppets were enough to push an intermediate supreme Saint-King to a corner!

Apparently, though, his opponent this time was not the usual case!

At this moment, Lin Xun indifferently said, “Don’t you want to let me lose convincingly? Perhaps you can use your Great Dao Field now?”